


Horizon: Zero Day

by Ryanca16



Category: Horizon: Zero Dawn (Video Game)
Genre: Blood, Drug reference, F/M, Language, Violence, mild sexual themes
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-03-31
Updated: 2018-04-07
Packaged: 2019-04-16 05:55:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 6
Words: 1,495
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14158233
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ryanca16/pseuds/Ryanca16
Summary: A new day has dawned on the horizon after the defeat of HADES, but the threat is far from over...





	1. Dawn of a New Day

“System threat... imminent.” HADES muttered.

“I’m more than a threat!” Aloy replied. 

Just as Aloy had pierced the lense of the HADES core, the dark and looming clouds seemingly appeared to dissipate as rays of light began to break through.

Suddenly, an electric discharge coursed through her body, temporarily paralyzing her. Her focus showed her a massive hologram of Elisabet Sobeck as a synthetic voice spoke instructions.

"Master override, armed. To activate, state name and rank."

"Elisabet Sobeck, Alpha Prime." Aloy replied.

"Master override, activated. Purging extinction protocol."

Blue light suddenly began to envelop the hologram representing the Spire, purging it of corruption.

Aloy returned to her senses as the Spire activated, sending a shock wave blast that knocked her off her feet. All around the world, the Faro robots and their bio-matter conversion systems were shut down permanently. As Aloy recovered from her fall, she glanced at HADES and saw the spear impaled in the core, lifeless. She smiled briefly before making her way to the edge of the mesa overlooking Meridian. Erend and Varl soon joined her as she lifted her bow in triumph. Cheers could be heard coming from Meridian. Their darkest hour had passed. They had won. The war had ended and yet the threat was far from over...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I will be posting the next chapter shortly.


	2. A Tremble on the Horizon

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Aloy explores more personal matters and the implications of her actions on the future and the blight of mankind.

“-with enough compassion to heal the world, just a little bit...” Elisabet spoke.

Aloy held the small globe figurine in her hands as tears streamed down her cheeks. The mother she had been searching for was right in front of her, the lifeless corpse of Elisabet Sobeck, whose mangled body was only protected from the elements by having previously donned the ultra-weave powered armor. 

She had sacrificed herself to ensure that life on Earth would endure. Ironic, isn’t it? That above all else, the Banuk honored prevalence and survival, no matter the cost. Aloy had contemplated that the tribes had based their beliefs on the cultural achievements and inventions of The Old Ones.

Aloy stood up from where she knelt beside her mother as she began to walk toward her strider, but not before glancing behind her one last time.

“I’ll visit you again soon, I promise.” Aloy spoke softly, at the same time realizing she should head back to Meridian and do what she can to help out.

With that, she climbed upon her strider and rode off into the horizon.

Elsewhere, in Meridian, a few townsfolk were somewhere they had no business being. One of them jokingly attempted to remove the spear from the core it was impaled in. This suddenly caused HADES to re-activate and fly off to an unknown destination.

Somewhere in the Forbidden West, Sylens waited patiently for his arrival. Shortly thereafter, with almost no effort, Sylens had HADES trapped within a makeshift lantern of his own design.

"Hello, old friend. Remember me?" Sylens said. "We've still so much left to discuss, so much you never revealed. Your Masters, for example, the ones who sent the signal that woke you. Knowledge has its rewards, don’t you think? Let's begin..."


	3. The Dawn of Meridian

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Avad and Erend work together to restore Meridian to its former glory.

Erend walked through the Maizelands below Meridian, pondering the recent events that had transpired. It had been nearly two days since the war had ended, two days since he had last seen or heard from Aloy. He had been wondering where she had run off to after saving the world. He knew well that if it weren't for her, he wouldn't be here, drowning in his own thoughts. 

"Erend." 

Erend was staring at the ground when he looked up and saw Marad.

"Oh, didn't see you there. I was just thinking about Aloy." Erend said.

"Aren't we all? Speaking of friends, the Sun-King has asked me to send for you." Marad replied.

"Actually, I was just on my way to see him." Erend replied.

"Very well. I should probably inform you that he is eager to speak with you." Marad said.

When Erend reached the palace, he saw Avad sitting down reading through scrolls. Avad noticed Erend had arrived and stood up to greet him.

"Erend, my friend, I'm glad to see your doing well!" Avad commented.

"Uh, thanks, but you wanted to see me about something?" Erend asked.

"Right, of course, my apologies!" Avad exclaimed.

"What's going on? Did something happen?" Erend asked.

"As a matter of fact, I've heard a report from one of my guards that a few of the townsfolk are shaken about something happening near the Spire."

"Well then, I'll gather my men and wait for Aloy to return." Erend said, just as Avad nodded his head in agreement. 

The world needs Aloy again, before its too late...


	4. A New Dawn

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Shortly after her return, Aloy discovers that HADES has resurfaced.

From the palace, Avad could see Aloy riding her machine toward the gates of Meridian. Avad instructed that Erend meet her there and investigate the Spire.

"Aloy, we need your help, quickly!" Erend yelled.

"With what exactly?" she asked.

Aloy soon realized it was more dire than she could have anticipated as they reached the base of the Spire. 

"HADES!" Aloy was furious. "Maybe I can collect data from the core with my focus and see where it went."

"Alright then, this is your show." Erend agreed.

"Let's see here. Based on the files I've recovered it looks like the trace routes indicate that HADES went into the Forbidden West." Aloy surmised.

"Then let me come with you." Erend begged.

"No, Erend, I'm faster on my own, besides your king needs you, Meridian needs you." Aloy objected.

"I think you should go with her, Erend."

Aloy and Erend turned around to see Vanasha standing behind them.

"You really think you can do this alone? Besides, when we smuggled Itamen and Nasadi safely out of Sunfall you needed my help. Now whose to say you don't need it now?"

Aloy thought for a moment.

"Fine." Aloy agreed, reluctant. "But only if you do as I say."

Erend looked at her, "Deal."

Aloy and Erend visited Sun-King Avad and informed him of their plans before gathering their supplies while Vanasha would escort them out of the city.

"Be careful going near Sunfall. The Shadow-Carja may have lost the war, but they are not yet defeated. There are still remnants of them scattered near where you'll be heading." Vanasha advised.

"Thanks, Vanasha. Take care of yourself." Aloy said.

With that, Aloy and Erend set out toward and beyond Sunfall and into the Forbidden West.


	5. A Journey Begins

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Aloy and Erend set out in search of where HADES went, and what his plans are for the future of mankind, but not before going down the path toward a newfound relationship.

Aloy and Erend were just nearing Sunfall when they had decided it was best for the two of them to rest for the night, as the moon was already high in the sky. They agreed to make camp in the forested area near the sand dunes that surrounded Sunfall, where no man or machine was remotely nearby, at least not enough to bother them.

"You know we could have ridden here by strider or broadhead instead." Aloy said, "It would have been a lot faster."

"Well, you know me I've never actually ridden a machine before, or any machine for that matter. Erend replied. "I mean you are the only one I know that can say that, right?"

"No, actually, Sylens is the only other person I know that rides machines to get around." Aloy replied.

"You think he might have something to do with this?" Erend asked.

"If he really is behind this, then I'm going to give him a piece of my mind." Aloy replied.

Erend laughed softly at the thought of it. Aloy didn't think it was rather funny, if anything, it made her even more agitated.

"Well," Erend said, "I'm gonna get some rest for the night. You need any help with that?" He asked, just as he saw her removing her armor, weapons, and focus while still wearing her undergarments.

"I'll keep watch for the night. And no, I don't need any help with this, I am more than capable of handling it myself, thanks." Aloy said. 

"No, I didn't mean to say that you couldn't do it yourself, its just that-" Erend was cut off from finishing his sentence as Aloy suddenly and without warning started to kiss him.

"Actually," She told him, "Let's both get some rest for the night, together."


	6. The World On Her Shoulders

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Aloy must fulfill her destiny and save the world once again from the threat of the Faro Plague.

General Herres: "Zero Day - the day that life on Earth ceases to exist - is coming fast. It cannot be stopped."

Aloy paused the audio recording that was playing on her focus just as she heard movement nearby. She slowly stood up from where she had been laying down just then, not wanting to wake Erend. She felt quite eager to investigate. When she approached the site of the noise, she saw that it was merely a pack of scrappers grinding away at the metal parts of a destroyed watcher corpse. She sighed softly and returned to camp while the machines continued with their work as she contemplated for a moment the burden that weighed heavily on her shoulders.

Zero Day had passed once before, Aloy thought, and she was determined to prevent it from happening again.


End file.
